You are here

rabble blogs are the personal pages of some of Canada's most insightful progressive activists and commentators. All opinions belong to the writer; however, writers are expected to adhere to our guidelines. We welcome new bloggers -- contact us for details.

I have been hard on our new Employment and Social Development Minister, Jason Kenney, for buying into a widespread myth about labour shortages and skill mismatches in Canada. So, to give credit where credit is due, it appears Minister Kenney has been listening to the growing chorus of voices disputing the existence of a labour shortage in Canada.

Surprisingly (or not), Minister Kenney turns to a simple market solution to business complaints of difficulty finding candidates: raise wages. "The single most powerful tool employers have to address labour skill shortages is raising wage levels," Kenney reportedly told his business audience. This was not a simple slip of the tongue, accidentally speaking truth to a friendly audience -- Kenney later repeated the statement on Twitter, saying: "Employers should use market mechanisms, like higher wages & investments in training, to help address skill shortages." (It's interesting that this message is coming from the one-time provider of low-wage, easily exploitable migrant workers through the TFWP).

The advantage to this approach is that higher wages are an extremely effective signal for job seekers, and investments in training can pay significant dividends for both employers and employees, and in fact are key to future productivity growth in Canada.

And, of course, the government has a wonderful new plan to encourage employers to invest in training: the Canada Job Grant.

Never mind that the Canada Job Grant proposes to take its funding from a pot already funding training for vulnerable workers who don't qualify for EI. Never mind that there is no evidence that this program will encourage new employer spending on training, but instead is likely to subsidize existing employer training schemes. And never mind that $300 million toward training is a relatively tiny drop in the bucket of what is needed.

So, while I applaud the Minister on his assessment that employers need to raise wages and increase training, I remain puzzled by where this government chooses to intervene in the labour market. To get the 'most bang for your buck,' as they say, governments should invest in areas where businesses won't and individuals can't. Instead, the Canada Job Grant does the opposite, giving employers money for training from a pot of money dedicated to helping unemployed workers who have fallen through the cracks.

At the end of the day, despite the tough talk, Kenney is still selling something that looks a lot like corporate welfare at the expense of the real 'little guy.'

More people are reading rabble.ca than ever and unlike many news organizations, we have never put up a paywall – at rabble we’ve always believed in making our reporting and analysis free to all, while striving to make it sustainable as well. Media isn’t free to produce. rabble’s total budget is likely less than what big corporate media spend on photocopying (we kid you not!) and we do not have any major foundation, sponsor or angel investor. Our main supporters are people and organizations -- like you. This is why we need your help. You are what keep us sustainable.

rabble.ca has staked its existence on you. We live or die on community support -- your support! We get hundreds of thousands of visitors and we believe in them. We believe in you. We believe people will put in what they can for the greater good. We call that sustainable.

So what is the easy answer for us? Depend on a community of visitors who care passionately about media that amplifies the voices of people struggling for change and justice. It really is that simple. When the people who visit rabble care enough to contribute a bit then it works for everyone.

And so we’re asking you if you could make a donation, right now, to help us carry forward on our mission. Make a donation today.